Swastika Drawn Near Gainesville Community Pool

A swastika spray-painted near a Gainesville community pool is the third incident of the kind in Prince William County this year, according to police. Prince William Police Officers responded to the Piedmont Home Owners Association Pool House located at 14030 Clatterbuck Loop in Gainesville to investigate an incident of vandalism, Thursday at 11 a.m. The pool manager reported to police that the concrete near the pool was vandalized sometime between 9 p.m., June 19 and 10 a.m., June 20. There was a spray-painted drawing of a swastika on the ground near the pool. "No suspicious persons or vehicles were reported in the area during the timeframe," said police spokeswoman Officer Renee Carr.  "The drawing did not appear to target anyone specific in the neighborhood." Police have categorized this as not only vandalism but as a possible hate crime. There have been two other incidents of vandalism in the county that involved the drawing of swastikas this year. Both those incidents occurred in Dumfries. On April 2, there were scratches on both front doors of a vehicle that looked like a crudely drawn swastika symbol. On March 12, police received a report of swastikas being drawn on a basketball court at Anne Moncure Park with chalk. "In that incident, residents reported seeing a group of kids skateboarding in the area the evening prior to the report," said a previous release. At this time it is not known if any of the incidents are related. The investigation continues. Anyone with information regarding the incidents listed in this report is asked to contact the Prince William County Police Department tipline at 703.792.7000 or submit a webtip to: www.pwcgov.org/policetip